'A.C.O.D.' has too few ha-ha moments

5:05 AM,
Oct. 8, 2013

Adam Scott is an adult child of divorce in the new comedy 'A.C.O.D.'
Quantrell Colbert

Written by

Claudia Puig, USA TODAY

A.C.O.D. (** ½ out of four; rated R; opens Friday in select cities) is a spotty comedy with a great cast and a catchy title that falls apart in the final third.

The title stands for Adult Children of Divorce, a term that ambitious author Dr. Judith (Jane Lynch) proudly claims to have coined.

Carter (Adam Scott) is the affable prototype of this common syndrome. A successful restaurateur with a loving girlfriend, Lauren (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), he seems to have overcome the childhood trauma of his parents' divorce. But has he? He keeps his distance from them and their new spouses and thereby ...